Is ptype information used if a process of that ptype already exists?

The ToolTalk service always looks for one handler and any number of observers for every message. In this case, even though the ToolTalk service finds a handler running, it will still look through the ptypes for any observe patterns that match the message. If a ptype with an observe pattern that matches does exist and there is no process of that ptype currently running, the ToolTalk service will start a new process or queue the message (as specified in the ptype pattern or in the message).